


An Accelerated Course of Study

by thundercaya



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: College, Gen, M/M, Workplace Warzone compliant, death warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 06:30:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10758648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercaya/pseuds/thundercaya
Summary: James fast-tracks through college, but still manages to make a friend he'll never forget.





	An Accelerated Course of Study

James Madison almost didn’t survive the drive to New Jersey.

At least, that’s what he would say if anyone asked, but the only people on this trip with him were his father and his younger brother Frank, and they weren’t asking. Frank, in fact, was voicing all of the complaints that James was keeping to himself.

“If you’re serious about going into the army,” their father said, “you need to learn to endure long car rides.”

That quieted him down, at least for a few minutes.

Despite the long drive, James was the first one to arrive at his room. Once his things were brought up to his room, Frank and their father left for their hotel, promising to be back in the morning for breakfast before starting back for Virginia.

James enjoyed the solitude after spending so many hours--and quite frankly so many years--at close quarters with other people, but it didn’t last long. Soon another boy arrived--Joseph Ross according to the housing paperwork--accompanied by a woman who looked to be his mother. She was speaking a language that James wasn’t familiar with and paused only long enough to give James a quick hello. Once the other boy was settled, she embraced him and left. The boy then turned to James. “Hi,” he said, adjusting his glasses. “You must be James. I’m Joey. Nice to meet you.”

James stood up from his bed to shake his hand. Joey was taller than James, but honestly, who wasn’t? At least the difference wasn’t as large as it could have been. “Hi. So I guess this is it.” 

“Guess it is,” Joey said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple fun size Butterfingers. “Want some candy?”

James recoiled. “Oh, I'm allergic to peanuts.”

“Shit,” Joey said dropping them into the trash bin next to his desk. “I'm sorry.”

“No, I--you don't have to throw them away. Just don't touch me or my stuff after you eat them.”

“Safer this way,” Joey said.

“Thanks,” James mumbled, embarrassed. He cleared his throat. “What’s that you were speaking with your mom?”

“Tagalog. She speaks English, too, but you know. It’s easier.”

“Yeah, I get it,” James said. “I know French, but I’d rather use English if I can.”

“Oh, right on,” Joey said, taking a seat on top of his desk.  “I was gonna take French, but I picked Spanish instead.”

“I actually took both, but my Spanish is really bad. I’m okay if I have time to prepare, but if I’m put on the spot, not so much. Like, if someone told me to speak it or die, I’d probably just die.”

Joey snickered. “Well, what if they said speak it or someone else dies?”

“I’d definitely give it my best. You know, unless it was someone I hated. I’d give my best for you.”

Joey grinned. “Is that so?”

“Uh, yeah. I couldn’t pay for this room by myself.”

  


Through the haze of sleep, Joey became aware of voices in the room. He couldn’t identify the first one, but then there was James saying; “shut up! He’s sleeping.”

The first voice again, saying; “I wish _I_ were sleeping.”

The next voice was much deeper than the other. “Crack of dawn in the army, Frank.” Then the door closed and it was quiet again.

When Joey woke up, James was still out. He made himself a breakfast of cold Pop-Tarts, then went to buy his text books. James still wasn’t back when Joey returned.

There was a thud right outside the door that made Joey jump, then a moment later the door opened to reveal James with a stack of books on the floor in front of him. Well, that explained the thud. James picked the books up, then entered the room, dropping them again on his desk.

“Holy crap,” Joey said, eyeing the stack. “What classes are you taking that require that many books?”

James--apparently still catching his breath--didn’t answer, but instead handed Joey his course list.

“What the fuck, why are you taking so many classes?”

James dropped down onto his bed. “I don’t know. Because I can, I guess.”

“Are you sure you can though?” Joey asked, scanning the list again. “Everyone keeps telling me how much more outside work there is in college.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Well, you’re a better man than me,” Joey said. “I intend to enjoy myself.”

“Uh, yeah, me too,” James said. “There’s nothing I like better.”

“Damn, and here I was hoping you would party with me.”

“The only parties I’m interested in are political.”

Joey looked at the course list again, this time actually taking in the names rather than just the number of them. “Oh yeah. That is what you’re studying.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Joey shrugged. “Just gonna feel things out for now.”

  


Thanks to his headphones, James didn’t hear Joey open the door, but he did notice the light coming in from the hallway. He glanced up from the mess on his desk and gave his roommate a quick wave. He set back to work, but only for a moment, pausing again when instead of traveling to his own side of the room, Joey took a seat on James’ bed. James paused his music and took off his head phones. “Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m packing an emergency food kit.”

“What for?”

“Emergencies.”

“Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Don’t worry, I’m making you one, too.”

“Because of the paying for the room thing?”

“Well, that and mine isn’t going to last very long if you start dipping into it.”

“Well, what’s in it?” Joey asked, stretching.

“Fruit snacks, granola bars, tuna and cracker snack packs, and Vienna sausages.”

“That is the exact same stuff we had in our emergency kits in elementary school.”

“It was good enough then, so it’s good enough now. Do you have more questions or can I put my music back on?”

Joey grinned in a way that made James regret his words, though he wasn’t sure why.

“What are you listening to?”

Oh, that was why.

“Nothing….”

“James, if I grab your CD player and open it to see what it is, you’ll lose your place in your song. Better just to tell me, don’t you think?”

James took a deep breath and exhaled laboriously before saying; “Nirvana.”

Joey laughed. “Oh, I should have known you liked that angsty shit, what with how many black shirts I saw in your closet.”

James huffed indignantly as blood rushed to heat up his face. “I like other stuff, too. And I was wearing red when I met you.”

“Okay, yeah, so you were. So what else do you listen to?”

“Uh, Gin Blossoms.”

“Angst with a side of alcohol.”

“I guess, but I also listen to, you know, Whitney Houston, and stuff like that.”

Joey grinned. “Mariah Carey?”

“Uh, yeah I guess. I like some songs. I don’t have any of her albums.”

“That is a grievous error that will have to be corrected.”

“Well, I just dropped most of my spending money on emergency food, so maybe some other time.”

Joey kicked off his shoes and laid down on James’ bed, earning him a disapproving glance, though James didn’t actually say anything. “And if there’s no emergency, won’t it have been a waste?”

“Uh, no. If they’re about to expire, we’ll eat them.”

Joey chuckled. “And here I thought you didn’t know how to party.”

  


A few weeks in and James was starting to regret his decision, though he would never say so. He hadn’t been lying when he said he preferred school work to what other people considered fun. Even if he had allowed himself any free time, he’d most likely be filling it with reading. Or maybe sleep. He was already falling behind on his sleep. Still, had had to persevere. He couldn’t let Joey see him backing down.

Joey, for his own part, didn’t spend much time in the room. He went to class, met up with friends, and also had a job on the weekends. He was getting ready for said job when he asked James what he thought of football.

“Waste of time,” James said, copying a line from a textbook into his notes. He frowned, then turned to Joey. “Sorry, do you play?”

“Oh, no” Joey said. “I tried playing sports, but I would always get out of breath.”

“Asthma?”

“No, not asthma. Anyway, I just thought you might want to visit me at work.”

“You work at football?” James asked, vaguely aware that he hadn’t put that sentence together correctly in his distracted state.

“No, I work at the stadium, at the concession stand. I thought maybe I could sell you a hot dog.”

“Well, I do like hot dogs.”

Joey smiled. “Well, that’s good. No reason to come to a football game just for a hot dog, though, so forget I said anything.”

“I would buy a hot dog from you if I thought I had time,” James said, “but unfortunately….” He gestured at the books littering his desk.

“Yeah, got it,” Joey said. “Maybe some other time.”

  


The door swung open.

“Guess. What!” Joey said, holding a paper bag in one arm.

“We won the game?” James tried.

“God, who even knows?” Joey asked, shutting the door then setting the bag down on his desk. “Who even cares? I have _hot dogs_.”

“You didn’t have to buy me hot dogs.”

“I _didn’t_ ,” Joey said. “Some of the hot dogs didn’t sell and they just gave them to us! And we had some bags of chips that expire today. They’re still good, but we can’t sell them anymore tomorrow, so they gave us those too!”

“You brought me left-over hot dogs and expiring chips?”

Joey frowned, the excitement draining right out of him. “Oh. I guess that does sound pretty unappealing. I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” James said. “It sounds like my kind of meal.”

Joey grinned. “Oh, thank God.”

“One thing. It could use some chocolate.”

“Oh, no kidding. I tried to get some, but they only candy that was expiring were Snickers and peanut butter cups.”

“If I ever get the death penalty, that’s going to be my last meal.” James pulled open a drawer on his desk and pulled out two Hershey bars. “Anyway, I’ve always got chocolate, so it’s fine.” He tossed one to Joey.

“I think this is officially your first college party,” Joey said, tearing open the wrapper.

  


James didn’t know where the time had gone. He’d been working on an essay since Joey left for class that morning. He told himself he’d take a break when Joey returned, but apparently class hadn’t been the only thing on his agenda. It was dark before Joey returned and James was still copying quotes out of a book to sprinkle into his essay.

“Are you still working on that?” Joey asked, slinging an arm around James and resting his chin on James’ shoulder.

James shrugged him off. “I obviously am.”

Joey stood up straight, but placed a hand on each of James’s shoulders. “You seem tense. Have you had a break?”

“Uh-huh.” He could count bathroom breaks if he wanted to.

“Let’s pretend I believe you. Have you eaten?”

James shook his head. “It’s fine, though. I’ll eat later.”

“The dining hall closes in an hour.”

“We have Pop-Tarts,” James dismissed.

“No. No. You need real food.” 

“I’m fine,” James insisted.

“No, you’re not.” Joey leaned against James’ shoulder and shoved. “Come on. James, come on. Come on, James. James. James. Come on!”

“Fine!” James said. “But I’m bringing my work.”

  


“I don’t know why you dragged me here,” James said, copying a few lines. “They don’t even have hot dogs.”

Joey didn’t respond to the joke and merely shook his head as James shook crumbs out of his book before turning the page.

“I didn’t think anyone could be as into school as my ex-boyfriend.”

James’ head shot up from his book and he quickly glanced from side to side.

“What?” Joey asked.

“Sorry,” James said, relaxing back into his seat. “For a second I forgot we weren’t in Virginia and I was checking if anyone was gonna come say something to you.”

“Oh! I mean, that still happens sometimes up here, but it must be hard to be gay in the south.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t-- I’m not-- It’s not me. It’s someone in my family. I think.”

“You think?”

“Maybe it’s just-- Well at what age do you know?”

Joey shrugged. “At what age do you start getting crushes?”

James huffed out a laugh. “I didn’t get any until I was twelve.”

“I got my first one at five.”

“Then I guess it’s possible.”

It sounded an awful lot like “I have this friend…,” but Joey didn’t push. If James didn’t want to tell him, that was his right, and if there really was a family member, Joey didn’t want to drive James into a corner where he felt the only way to prove himself would be to out that person, which he didn’t seem to want to do. Besides, he knew well enough by now that James could be plenty awkward even when telling the truth.

“Well, regardless,” Joey said, “if anyone does give me trouble, I can handle it. Good looking out, though. Thanks.”

James nodded. “Yeah. No problem.”

  


Finals week. That last treacherous stretch of wilderness before the return to civilization. Joey’s path was fairly clear, his load rather light in terms of both amount and difficulty. James, on the other hand, couldn’t hide that he’d overloaded himself. He wasn’t sure if he had the energy to make it to the end, having expended most of it getting this far. He needed to sleep. He almost couldn't be certain if his first final had happened or it he’d only dreamt it. He needed to sleep, but with so many more tests to go, he simply couldn’t.

James spent so long trying to get his key in the lock that Joey opened the door before he could finish.

“Hey man,” Joey said, brow knit. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” James muttered, stumbling into the room. “Thanks for getting the door.” He took a moment to stare longingly at his bed, then made his way to his desk instead. Even so, once he dropped into his seat, his head dropped down onto his pile of books. He was vaguely aware of the sound of the door closing, and the approach of Joey’s footsteps.

“Hey, you look like you could use some rest.”

“I’m resting right now,” James said.

“James, let me ask you something. How did your grades look going into finals?”

“Um, good I guess?”

“Like how good?”

“A’s, probably.”

“So let’s say you were to bomb your tests. You’d still pass right?”

“Passing's, not the problem, Joey. I have my GPA to think about.”

“Yeah, but as long as you get through this semester, you can bring it up over the rest of your time here, when you have fewer courses at once.”

“Not gonna work that way,” James muttered. “I’m taking just as many classes next semester, too.”

Joey groaned. “James! Why would you do that?”

“If I can do it this time, I can do it next time, too. Don’t worry, I’ll just sleep the whole break.”

Joey sighed. “All right, it’s your life.” He shook James gently. “Just take care of yourself, all right?”

James lifted his head off the desk, shook himself, then opened one of his text books. “Uh-huh. Will do.”

  


Since most of his things were already in his room, Joey didn’t need help bringing anything upstairs. He said goodbye to his mother at her car then made his way into the dorm building with only a duffle bag full of clean clothes. He opened the door to find James already settled in, face down on his bed, a stack of new books on his desk.

“Hey,” Joey said, setting down his bag in front of his closet. “How were your grades?”

“One B. The rest As.”

“Right on.” Joey left the bag for later and climbed onto the bed next to James. James groaned in annoyance, but he moved over to make room just the same. “Did you sleep the whole break?”

James sighed. “Tried to. Do you know how many siblings I have?”

“No, you never said.”

“Six. I mean, seven.”

Joey chuckled. “I guess I’d lose track if I had that many, too.”

“No, it’s not that,” James said. “Sometimes I forget to include baby Cat because she died.”

Joey’s smile faltered and he sat up. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”

James winced. “No, I’m sorry. This isn’t what you want to be talking about, just coming back from break.”

“Fuck that,” Joey said. “How long ago was this? Are you okay?”

“Like eleven years? It’s fine, really.” James cleared his throat. “Thanks, though.”

Joey coughed into his fist. “So six kids at the house? I can see how you wouldn’t get much rest.”

“It’s fine,” James said. “I figure I’ve got about a week before I’m swamped again.”

“It’s not too late to drop some of those classes,” Joey pointed out, laying back down.

“That’s quitter talk.”

  


James at least made time for regular meals this time around, mostly because his mother didn’t stop talking about how thin he was the entire time he’d been home. He’d assured her that of course he’d been eating, but he failed to tell her how much of that had consisted of Pop-Tarts and old hot dogs. While Joey was still more than happy to provide James with old hot dogs, he was also glad to have more opportunities to eat out with him.

“You know, I think I know what I want to major in,” Joey said.

James looked up from the textbook he was highlighting next to a plate of bacon. “Oh yeah? That’s good, then you can start specializing next year. What is it?”

“Nutritional science.”

James scoffed. “Please don’t tell me you were inspired by my eating habits.”

“All right,” Joey said, plucking an asparagus off of his own plate and taking a bite. “Then I won’t tell you.”

James picked up a piece of bacon and waved it at Joey. “Listen, I’ll eat better when it tastes better.”

“I feel you,” Joey said. “I really do. But you know, you could wrap one of these--” he pointed at his asparagus “--in one of these---” he pointed at the bacon “--and you’d have a pretty good compromise.”

James shook his head. “If God wanted me to eat a plant, he shouldn't have made me allergic to peanuts.”

Joey flashed a crooked grin. “You know chocolate comes from a plant, too, right?”

“Keep your technicalities to yourself,” James dismissed. “We can’t all be nutritional scientists.”

  


James didn’t like working in the library since there was always the risk of him falling asleep. As such he much preferred to check out whatever books he needed and bring them back to his room. This particular essay had him at his checkout limit, and when he reached his door he hoped very much to avoid having to set his stack down to let himself in. He kicked the door gently since he couldn’t knock properly and hoped for the best.

“Oh, thank god,” James said when Joey opened the door. “I was worried you’d be at a party or something.”

“Eh, haven’t really gone to any in a while,” Joey said, closing the door behind James.

“Oh yeah?” James asked, setting his books down. “Why not? My work ethic rubbing off on you?”

“God, no,” Joey said. “That sounds like a slow death and I’d prefer to go quick.” He averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head. “I guess I just haven’t really felt like it.”

“Well, I don’t blame you,” James said, taking a seat at his desk and sorting through his books for the one he wanted to start with. “Parties sound terrible.”

“They’re really not,” Joey said. “They can actually be pretty fun, but I don’t know. I think maybe I just like the company better here.”

James glanced around as if there might be someone else in the room Joey could be referring to. “Riiight.”

Joey laughed. “Hey, it’s a matter of opinion.”

James opened his book, ready to begin his essay in earnest. “Well, thanks I guess.”

  


“James. Hey, James. Wake up.”

James opened his eyes to see Joey hovering over him. “Huh?” he forced out.

“Happy birthday!”

James groaned and ran his hands down his face. “You woke me up for that?”

“I woke you up because it’s almost one PM and the last time you slept through a weekend you spent the entire week complaining about how much it set you back.”

“All right, fair,” James said, sitting up and swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. “Thanks. I do need to get started on my--”

“Not so fast!” Joey said, hands on James shoulders to keep him seated. “Your birthday isn’t entirely irrelevant to why I woke you.” He walked over to his desk. “I didn’t know what to get you for your birthday, so….” He reached over and hit play on his stereo. Unsurprisingly, out poured Mariah Carey. What was surprising was that Joey grabbed an empty Coke bottle off his desk and began using it as a microphone as he mouthed along with the song.

“Oh my god,” James said, then he said it again as Joey began to gyrate his hips to the music, flinging his free arm out as he struck poses. As soon as James fell into laughter, Joey did, too, and unable to continue, he turned off the song.

“Was that my birthday present?” James asked when he caught his breath.

“More like a present to myself,” Joey said, panting. “No one ever wants to watch my routine. I have your real present right here.” He pulled open a drawer on his desk.

“I hope it’s a hot dog,” James said.

“Damn, I thought about it,” Joey laughed. He handed James a flat square present. James ripped off the paper to reveal a Mariah Carey cd.

“Let me guess. This album includes the song you just performed for me.”

“Yes!” Joey said. “Now whenever you hear that song, you’ll have no choice but to think of me.”

“That would be a difficult association to break, yes.”

“All according to plan,” Joey said. “I hope you can still get your homework done while battling that mental image.”

“It’ll be tough, but I think I can manage.”

  


Joey seemed to be spending more time in James’ bed lately, though thankfully it was mostly when James wasn’t in it. He’d lie on his stomach, chin resting on his arms and watch as James worked through his assignments.

“Is there something wrong with your bed?” James asked on one occasion. “I mean, I guess if it smells like you, that’s a good enough reason to avoid it, but at this rate, mine is going to smell that way, too.”

Joey snorted. “You should consider yourself lucky if your bed starts to smell like me. Honestly, the view is just better.”

“If you want to watch some guy study, you can do that literally anywhere on campus.”

“I guess that’s true,” Joey said, rolling over and stretching, “but none of them are you.”

James didn’t answer. Couldn’t. He was rarely around Joey with other people. If Joey just joked this way with all his friends and James took him seriously, he’d be humiliated. And even if Joey were serious, what could James even do with that? He didn’t have time to to go out on dates or… make out or anything like that. He barely had time to sleep. And if Joey wanted to do… other things, then James would have to tell him he didn’t want that, so why make Joey think there was a chance?

“If you want me to sleep at some point,” James said finally, “I’ll need my bed back.”

Joey chuckled. “Don’t worry, knowing your sleep schedule, I’ll be back in my own bed long before you even consider getting into yours.”

  


At least this time around James knew that finals were survivable. Unfortunately, his method for surviving them still wasn’t the healthiest. Coffee and all-nighters were the way to go.

“You’re not taking this many classes next year, are you?” Joey asked as he poured James another cup of coffee.

James shook his head. “I think I’d die.”

“About time you figured that out,” Joey said. “Next year’s gonna be great. I’m staking a claim on all the free time you’re gonna have, okay?”

“Whatever I guess,” James muttered.

“Don’t sound so excited,” Joey teased.

“I’ll be excited when this is all over.”

  


James and Joey both had their last test for the year on Friday afternoon, and while Joey hoped to celebrate, all James had the energy for was getting back up to his room and going to sleep. Joey just hoped the other boy would wake up the next day with enough time to pack before he got picked up.

Joey’s mother arrived early Saturday morning, and James was so knocked out that he didn’t even stir as they moved his things out of the room. Once everything was loaded into the car, Joey made his way back up stairs on his own, hoping to wake James up for a goodbye.

“James,” he said as he entered the room. “Jim. Jimmy. Jimothy. Wake up! I’m leaving.”

James made no response and Joey sighed.

“James,” Joey said, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking him gently. “James!”

James grunted in protest, but did not wake up.

Joey sighed. “All right, fine, have it your way.” He grabbed a piece of paper off James’ desk and scrawled out his home phone number. He left it right in the middle of the desk where James was sure to see it. “See you next year,” Joey said, starting for the door. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, sighed heavily, and turned back around. He’d always thought James was cutest when he was asleep. Maybe next year when James had more time, they could get to a point where Joey could sleep next to him.

Joey brought two fingers to his lips, kissing them, then gently pressed them to James’ mouth. He brought them back to his own mouth and kissed them again. “I love you, James. And I’ll tell you again the next time I see you awake.” He turned away again and headed for the door, glancing over his shoulder again one more time before leaving for good.

  


When James woke up he found Joey’s side of the room empty. He cursed himself for not getting a chance to say goodbye. At least he could look forward to next year. He found the piece of paper with the phone number on his desk. “Call me!” it said.

James called the number exactly once and left a message with Joey’s mother, leaving the boy his own number. Joey called him back that same week and they spoke for two hours, surprising James’ mother, who didn’t know he could hold a conversation that long. They talked about their final grades, their summer plans, and speculated over whether or not they’d be able to see each other before the next school year. James didn’t drive and Joey didn’t have a car, so any trips would unfortunately involve some sort of parental participation, whether driving one of them to the destination or paying for a flight.

There was no second phone call, at least not from Joey. The next call came from Joey’s mother, informing James that Joey had died. While playing soccer with friends, he’d gone into cardiac arrest due to a heart condition no one had known he had. What a woman, James thought, to call some boy three hundred miles away and speak a language she wasn’t comfortable with to pass along what must have been the worst news of her life. That was love for her son, to set her grief aside for two whole minutes because she knew he would want James to know, and who was James to think that he could ever love someone that much?

In the fall James returned to Princeton to share a room with someone who wasn’t Joey. He didn’t want to be there anymore, wasn’t sure he could stand the the familiar places if he’d never be able to turn around and see Joey there. He had been right, it seemed, to get so many classes out of the way, and he spent the first week picking up as many classes as the school would allow.

**Author's Note:**

> Does "major character death" refer to a major character in the original work in the the fic???


End file.
